Main navigation

How to Make Cell Phone and USB Charms

Today, I want to show you how to make cell phone and USB charms. What makes these cell phone and USB charms special is that they are personalized. By adding metal stamped elements to your charms, you can really make them unique. You can add names to identify cell phone charms and you can label the type of content that a USB contains. I actually have several USB's and this really helps me identify which is which and what is where. LOL

The cool things about this project is that you don't have to just use these babies for cell phones or USBs. You can use them for many other things like adding them to a cute clutch for a night out on the town or adding them to a makeup bag. The possibilites are endless.

Materials:

ImpressArt Metal Alphabet Stamps, Ballroom Boogie

ImpressArt Design Stamps: Fat Heart

ImpressArt Metal Stamping Hammer

ImpressArt Steel Stamping Block

ImpressArt Stamp Straight Tape

ImpressArt Assorted Metal Blanks

Assorted beads

Beading mat or a piece of felt

Embroidery floss

Linen thread

Split jump rings

Wax

Acrylic paint, black

Q-tips

Paper towel

Scissors

Needle nose pliers

Directions:

1. Gather your supplies.

2. Cut a piece of linen thread to the desired size. This will be dependent on how long you want the charm to be. For example, for the USB charm I cut a piece about 20 inches long. It is a good idea to have a couple of extra inches. You can trim the end later.

3. Fold the thread in half and make a knot so that you create a loop big enough for the beads to fit through when attaching to your USB drive or cell phone. This will be the top.

4. Wax each of the threads at the open end.

5. Twist those threads together to form a needle.

6. Thread the beads onto the strand of thread.

7. Push the beads up to the top knot.

8. After all the beads have been added, tie another knot close to, but not up against the last bead on your strand.

9. Stamp your charms with ImpressArt Alphabet and Design stamps. Smear the stamped image with black acrylic paint and wipe off with a piece of paper towel.

10. Attach a split jump ring to the charm.

11. Next, cut a 6” piece of linen thread and wax it.

12. Cut 4 to 6 12” strands of embroidery thread in a color of your choice.

13. Wrap the linen thread around the center of the floss, twisting the ends of the linen thread to form a needle, just list you did to thread the beads.

14. Take your beaded strand and push the beads as far up to the top knot as you can. Then pull the thread apart between the last bead and the bottom knot so that a loop is exposed.

15. Pull the floss through the split jump ring.

16. Then pull it through the loop you made in the bottom of the beaded strand.

17. Knot the floss.

That's all there is to it! This is really a simple and fun project…and c'mon….who doesn't love a little bling? I know I do! I hope you're inspired to create some of these for yourself and perhaps for some special friends. Happy Crafting everyone!

I really like the pretty part, Peggy. The loop at the top threads through the little hole on the phone or usb….you push the loop through, then pull the charm part through the loop. I have an iPhone, so I can’t use a cell phone charm, but I am using them on almost all of my usb ports.

Theresa, you have truly sparked an interest need for me to get my fingers on some of these metal stamps. I keep looking at your projects and now I want to hammer some metal! I will be visiting ImpressArts booth at CHA.

I am absolutely loving this. I'm not quite sure what's going on in my small world of craftin' but it would appear the "gods of twitter/craftin'" are sending many blessings my way. Theresa, between you, Carol and a few others, I can hardly pull myself away from twitter and these great links.Thank you so much for your time and effort in providing such high quality inspiration.

Thank you so much, Elizabeth. You are so kind to take the time to leave me a comment and to say such sweet things. It brings me great joy to know that someone is enjoying what I tweet and post. Very much appreciated!

Hi Sandy. Glad you like the charms. You can absolutely make money with crafts. You need to have a plan first and know what you want to achieve. Then there are sites like Etsy and Artfire where you can have your own shop. You have to know how to market it and use social media….but it can be done.